Vision and Academic Mission Statement

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The Department's vision statement supports the vision of Ogden College of Science and Engineering, which aspires to build a community of creative and critical thinkers, with local to global impact. Specifically, the primary mission of the WKU Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences is to provide relevant, up-to-date, and integrative undergraduate and graduate educational experiences in the broader field of the earth, environmental, and atmospheric sciences. WKU EEAS strives to provide outstanding geoscience programs, with broad international connections, to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene. We aim to develop exceptional undergraduates and graduates in our major programs and in Colonnade courses, to engage students in critical thinking, written and oral communication and meaningful problem-solving through a range of knowledge and skills in their discipline or in a multidisciplinary area. In achieving this mission, we create an academic environment of rigor and achievement that cultivates a community of scholars and contributing citizens and enhances interconnections among the disciplines within the Department. We aim for our students to leave WKU with a set of integrated theoretical and practical skills and immersive learning experiences that have prepared them for advanced graduate study or to meet marketplace and societal needs in both the public and private sectors.

Several educational, research, and public service facilities are housed within the Department that provide exciting opportunities for a combination of theoretical and practical work. A major goal of the Department's activities is to involve undergraduate and graduate students actively in all aspects of research as an integrated part of their academic programs with the purpose of nurturing their intellectual growth, critical-thinking skills, and technical experience. Faculty in the Department conduct applied and basic research in local, regional, national, and international environments on a wide variety of issues related to Earth, atmosphere and human-environment interactions. We involve students in applied research activities, facilitated through the activities of the faculty, Programs of Distinction, laboratories, and research institutes, with particular emphasis on local and regional development issues. We strive to provide relevant, practical service to the university, the community, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and to international partners. Both faculty and students are encouraged to serve on committees, to be active in their communities, to provide expertise and advice to a variety of constituents, and to work towards improving our only home - the Earth - where human, environment and atmosphere interact.